Friday, December 16, 2016

Why Oprah (And All Of Us) Struggle--Condemnation

Oprah Winfey talks about her weight a great deal.

She is ashamed of weighing more than she is supposed to. Honestly, she doesn't look unhealthy. Isn't that what counts first and foremost. Exercise gurus usually tell clients and patients that they have to be OK with themselves, at peace on the inside to start dealing with the weight problems.

What is weighing on your soul?

Forget about what you are eating. What is eating you?

This dynamic is the most crucial for men and women to understand.

Notice the insane and unjust abuse that Winfrey "tolerated" from Joan Rivers on The Tonight Show in 1986:

Some context is appropriate here.

Winfrey just got her own talk show.

She actually did not look that bad at all.

Joan Rivers had her own short-lived yak fest, which went nowhere fast.

YAWN.

I have often found Rivers to be funny, but her frankness would border into unneeded cruelty sometimes.

Can you believe that Rivers went after Oprah's weight on live TV?!

No wonder some people struggle.

A sense of shame nags at people who find themselves unable to get and stay slender.

Later, Winfrey acknowledged what the food issue was all about:

She eventually realized that the reason she turned to food for comfort
was because of lack of love as a child.

“So many of us just want to fill up on a large helping of unconditional
love. When I was a girl, there wasn’t always enough of that to go around. As an
adult, though, I came to realize that even when people have the time and
strength to care for you, the deepest care must ultimately come from your own
self-acceptance, self-respect, and hard-earned truth,” Winfrey says.

That need for unconditional love is so important for all of us.

It's about more than solving a problem.

It's about more than understanding something new.

It's about more than reading our Bibles.

It's about knowing how loved we are ... by God our Father!

Even if we have the most loving parents in the world, it's still not enough.

We have an eternal need!

And that need we realize is met ... in Christ Jesus!

First, we learn that all condemnation has been removed:

"For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the
waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would
not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee." (Isaiah 54:9)

and

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ
Jesus," (Romans 8:1)

and

"Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day
of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world." (1 John 4:17)

When we rest in His love, we have nothing to be ashamed of, and no reason to fear.

We receive His grace and righteousness (Romans 5:17) and thus no weapon formed against us can prosper (Isaiah 54:17)